It was 4 years ago today that we sat in a hospital waiting room.  We were parents of a cancer patient. A 9 month old cancer patient. Jackson. I can remember it like it was just yesterday. We sat with our parents and my older brother Ryan.  We waited for the nurse to come out and tell us about Jackson’s surgery and if they were able to remove the mass. As Seth and I laid in bed last week one evening we were remembering the day we were told that Jackson had cancer. As we talked I felt my chest tighten and a flood of emotions come back.   The emotions are as real today as they were then.

Many of you know our story. How Jackson was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, by not one oncologist but many from the top hospitals in the US. We were told he wouldn’t likely make it through the year, would have radiation that would eliminate his ability to have children and that if he did survive he would possibly have his leg amputated or very limited use of the affected leg. We blogged on here begging the world to pray. And you did. Every corner of the globe was praying for Jackson by name. And God chose to answer your prayers. I say your prayers because I distinctly remember my inability to pray clear prayers during those days. We were experiencing such shock and had to just pull it together to get to doctors appointments and keep life normal for our baby.  After a longer than expected surgery, the surgeon herself came out of the OR flabbergasted that there was no longer evidence of the mass. She opened his leg and found a mass of blood vessels remaining. His muscles were set to heal properly leaving no long term damage and he was set for recovery.

Today Jackson is an almost 5 year old ball of energy. He is smart as a whip and keeps us on our toes. He starts kindergarten in the Fall and loves life! At times his scar seems so much a part of him that I forget. And other days it catches my breath as I remember where we have been. Today we celebrate Jackson’s life. It isn’t his birthday but it’s a very special day when we look at his scar, stop and celebrate life! Tonight we will have his favorite meal, thai food! (although he tells me his Nama makes the best, mine will have to do tonight!)

Thank you for your prayers 4 years ago. Please let us know if there is ever a time when you need our support!

…he wouldn’t likely walk again.

…he wouldn’t live through the year.

…he wouldn’t be able to have kids and would have heart failure if he had radiation.

…he might have to have his leg amputated.

But God had different plans for this little boy.

He now runs, jumps, kicks, walks, skips and talks non-stop!!

He is healthy and happy and full of energy.

On May 1st our family took time to remember our story and thank God for his blessing of Jackson’s life.  If you are new to our blog and don’t know Jackson’s story you can look back here.

We know that not every family gets this end result. If you want to learn more about Rhabdomyosarcoma and MD Anderson Cancer Center click here.

Thank you to our family and friends for your support back then and for your continued rejoicing with us now! Some may think we talk about it too much but it is such a good reminder for us to have faith and remember that God is carrying us through sickness and health.

May 1 in many countries is called May Day.  It is celebrated for a variety of reasons, but it is almost always a day of celebration.

For our family, May 1 will always be a day of celebration as well.  Because one year ago today, May 1, 2008, Jackson went in for surgery.  And when he came out, we were expecting to find out if he had the REALLY BAD kind of cancer or only the BAD kind of cancer.  If his leg muscles were going to be severely disfigured or if he was going to be able to walk just fine.  If we were going to be starting chemo and radiation immediately or if it could wait a week or two.

But when the doctor came out and told us it wasn’t cancer at all and only a vascular malformation, you can only imagine our relief and our excitement.  After the doctor told us, we told her to tell our parents, who were waiting with us.  There was more celebration.

Which is why May 1 will always be the Kolb’s personal holiday.  Always be a day of celebration.  Always be a day of giving thanks to our Great God, the Great Physician, who protected our baby.

I won’t speak for Kristen, but I’m pretty convinced, after reflecting for the last year, that God changed the mass in his leg from a malignant mass to something benign.  When a Colombian radiologist (at Colombia’s best hospital), a Colombian orthopedic surgeon (one of Colombia’s best), an MD Anderson radiologist (who had been reading scans for the last 25 years and works at the #1 cancer hospital in the US, if not the world), an MDA pediatric oncologist, an MDA pediatric surgeon, and an MDA pediatric orthopedic surgeon all agree that it’s cancer, it’s hard to imagine that it’s not cancer.  But praise God, literally, that they were wrong.

If you want to re-read our post from last year, here it is.

A couple of days ago Seth and I realized that it was exactly a year ago that we sat in a cold waiting room in MD Anderson and we were parents of a cancer patient. Our little boy had cancer. After 8 hours of consult we were told to go home and make a decision,  get the tumor out- risking a non-functioning leg in the end and continued need for radiation which would result in sterility, or attempt chemo and radiation and risk the mass matastesizing to his bone thus requiring an amputation. You all know the story. You all prayed for our baby and for us. As the year has progressed God reminds us of his faithfulness when we see Jackson’s scar and when we are reminded by those of you that prayed. It is surreal. We continue to process emotions.  It felt as though God took Jackson away for a little while (through our fears and the actual surgery time where we passed him over into the hands of the surgeons) and then graciously handed him back for us to care for him and enjoy him again. We love him so much.  Before I start sobbing…

On a much lighter note, I have been busy at work trying to find us a place to live for our 9 month time in DC. We have had a few great leads that have led to disappointment but we are now in the process of signing a lease on a place we are really excited about.  It happens to be only 10-15 mins from Ryan and Stephanie and a 3 min walk to the metro. We also have learned that thanks to Obama, Seth will qualify for a subsidy that will cover his metro costs. The townhouse has plenty of room, a small back yard and has a park just a hop and skip away. It has front steps  that are just begging for a big pumpkin and pot of mums in October!! Pray that all of the paperwork will go through quickly and that it will all be official soon!

And for the weekly “something funny” from Jackson: yesterday we ordered Chinese food and ordered beef and broccoli. This  morning Jackson was playing and somehow found the menu. He came to me and said “broccoli!” How on earth did he remember that that menu was from our dinner and he had had broccoli for dinner?!